The BMA announced on Saturday, 13 June it would put the improved offer to its members.

Dr Jack Fletcher, chair of RDC, said: ‘We have always been clear that no strikes needed to go ahead if we received an offer appropriate to put to our members. This should not have been left to the last moment, but we hold up our end of the bargain when the Government shifts its position.  

‘We will always negotiate in good faith and strikes are a last resort that we will only use in the face of complete Government intransigence. When Government moves, so do we.  

‘Doctors will now have their say. If they say no to this offer we will have to continue our plans for further escalated action across next month.'

The improved offer includes: an average 6.6% pay uplift by April 2027, with a further uplift in April 2027; 4,500 specialty training places over the next three years to tackle the jobs bottleneck; and all locally employed doctors to be offered the terms and conditions of the standard 2016 resident doctor contract.

Secretary of state for health and social care James Murray said: ‘The Government will now work intensively with the BMA over the coming days to finalise the details of the deal before it is put to their members. I expect the BMA Resident Doctors Committee, whose leadership have worked constructively and intensively with my officials to agree this deal, to recommend their members vote for it.

‘This is a good deal for resident doctors. It boosts their pay, improves their career prospects, and improves their working lives. It represents the chance to draw a line under the damaging disputes of recent years and to usher in a new period of industrial peace, where the government and resident doctors work together to make the NHS fit for the future.'

The Government said the offer on the table for pay this year (2026/27) had not changed. It is an average 4.9% pay increase for resident doctors, rising to 7.1% for some of the lowest paid doctors.

Sir Ciarán Devane, chief executive of the NHS Alliance, said: 'Health leaders will welcome this eleventh hour decision to suspend the planned strike action while they consider the Government's latest offer.

'This is a vital chance to reset the conversation. We urge both sides to use this opportunity to reach a fair, sustainable agreement that supports doctors, strengthens the NHS and maintains patient care.'